The Aontú leader and Meath West TD Peadar Tóibín has commented on the shocking knife attacks on citizens in Stoneybatter on the weekend. An Teachta Tóibín stated:
“The scenes of lawlessness in Dublin yesterday both in Stoneybatter and in Ballymun yesterday were shocking. We are very lucky that the victims of the knife attacks in Stoneybatter did not suffer more. Knife attacks to the neck can be fatal. The violence in Dublin is not happening in a vacuum. Public Order Patrols were recently cut by the Commissioner’s team in Dublin from three vans to one van. This one van is now to cover the whole Dublin Metropolitan Region. This is incredible given what happened not so long ago the Dublin Riots. Incredibly we don’t have a specific Public Order Unit. We need a centralised Public Order Unit that can be visible and mobilise in a speedy fashion. Its clear to me that one of the reasons for this is the government is policing on the cheap”.
“There is a 50 hour over time cap in a 4 week roster cap for each Garda. To increase to 70 hours overtime in a 4 week permission has to be given by the Assistant Commissioner in the Dublin Metropolitan Region. This is incredible for a force who are under massive pressure. Gardaí have worked months of overtime often are still waiting to be paid. The whole process of working overtime is made more difficult due to the mountains of paperwork authorisation. This is bad governance which militates against Gardaí working overtime. This Sunday is the last day of the roster which means that many Gardaí will have reached the limit. Yet there will be a big soccer match in Dublin that has to be policed. The cost of overtime is a concern. But if the government fail to recruit and retain Garda in sufficient numbers that overtime is necessary”.
“The correct technology is still not in the hands of the Gardaí. Tasers are still not issued to front line Gardaí. Gardaí go from lethal to non-lethal with no Tasers in between. This does not make sense with such an increase in knife crime. It has also been reported to be that there is a shortage of armed Garda patrols. Shockingly many Gardaí have gone through two years in armed patrol training but are yet to be employed within armed patrol units. This despite the many vacancies in the Armed Patrol Unit. Too many Gardaí are sitting behind desks and screens for far too often. This stops Gardaí working on the street. We need to reduce the bureaucracy facing Gardaí and allow them to do their job”.
“Finally thee are still no place to put criminals. The prisons are full. Oberstown is full. Criminals are simply left back on the street to commit more crime. If a juvenile has committed a number of crimes and a judge decides that a custodial sentence is needed and Oberstown is full, what happens? The criminal is let out to repeat offend. There is no evidence as of yet that this government means business in tackling crime”.
